Our first Outstanding Contributor is Edison Arana, a member of the technical staff at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Edison’s colleagues say that he is the cornerstone of the Lab’s CNC machining capabilities. It’s Edison’s legendary mastery of CNC equipment that make it possible for the Laboratory to quickly deliver state-of-the-art technologies and help solve some of the nation’s most stubborn challenges.

His coworkers say that Edison is crucial to Lincoln Laboratory because of his technical genius, but also something else—his endless dedication to learning, inventing, collaborating, questioning, and refining.

As one colleague noted, “If an exceedingly difficult part comes into the machine shop, we turn to Edison. His creativity and initiative consistently result in success.”

The name “Edison” could be hard for a scientist to live up to, but Edison Arana would have made the inventor of the light bulb proud. Edison, congratulations on your Excellence Award!